Temt office



. the' throat much in the manner of coffee.

rresultxmy beverage has muchrthe, same effect as astringent efiect.

Patented Mar, 13, 1945 .PROC-ESS'OFPREPARINGACOFFEE SUBSTITUTE a :Peter- 0. Scow, stflP-auL iim.

j'No Drawing.

"My invention relates to an improvement in coffee substitute, 3 and the process of preparing the-same, wherein it is desired to providea'beyerage which has some similarity with coffee.

' Various 'cereal'drinks havep'reviouslybeen composed, which" are designed to act as a substitute 'forcoffee. Certain of theselcompositions include grains'of various sorts, such as wheat, barley, 'ryefoats, corn meal, bran'and the like,'andsome iof the beverages include molasseslsas an sin- *gredient. "While it ismyintention to use'these materials, I also use additional ingredients which not only improve the flavor of the beverage, but act to make-the flavor distributed more thorough- "ly'land "evenly through the mixture than has been possiblebefore. f

An object of the, present invention is to provideta cereal beverage which includes an ingredient designed" to act upon the membranes of cdfieewhile being consumed. This fact coupled with the fact that the taste of the beverage isnot unlike that of coffee, produces avery satisfactory result, 7 v I'havefoundthat a certain type .of bark when mixed with .cerealtsuch as bran in proper, prportlons willproduce a certain astringent action on the membranes of thethroatmuch in'th'e manner of cofiee. While I have tried the barks of various wtrees Ior, this purpose, I have found that the bark of'thepoplar tree is particularly desirable for this purpose, as it produces the desired '1 have also found that my beverage appears to have somewhat of astimulating efiect when consumed. It is therefore my belief that the ground poplar bark adds some ingredient similar to caffeine in its efiect upon the person consuming the beverage.

It is an important feature of the present in vention that during the process of making the product I, add a certain amount of vinegar to the mixture after the remaining ingredients have been ground. This vinegar seems to act as a catalyst, or in some way to distribute the flavor of ApplicationJannary4,1943,' Serial No, 471,255

a Glairns. (o1. '99-'72) the various ingredients throughout the entire mass. It will be understood that my beverage is formed of a plurality of ingredients ground together and mixed and a binder is used to intimately associate the particles of material forming the composition before the grinding action takes place. The addition of the vinegar seems to not only add to the flavor by changing the flavor somewhat, but also seems to act upon the particles to blend the flavors of the different inof vinegar. :mixed so asitol thoroughly disperse the'iindividual ingredients; 'andi the product; isithen toastedv until 'dry. The product is then ready to :use, and a beverage :may be A formed ::by :using the product :muchthensame, mannerrasecofi'ee.

gradients together and i to rrralre the flavor more v available "to pass into" the} liquid of thebevera-ge being" formed. While the exact action" or 'the vinegar in the rnix'ture; is "not-known, it appears that its use has a very beneficial effect in allowing the flavor ofthe pairticlesitdpass intothe liquid audit is 'therefore' believed thatthe' inegaracts in the capacity of a catalyst in some chemical reac'tionfwhich permits "the flavor of the ingredients tobe more"readilyextracted. j

A"feat ure of my invention lies in the manner in which "mytc'omposition later-med; 1" have found it desirable tofollow certain specific steps in the formation of my -coffee substitute. 1 desire first to toast the bran and molassesftog'ether -sothat the "flavor 'of' the" molasses penetrates the 'branfiand so that the molasses adheres tothe particles'of bran.

'I then cool the :toastedprodu-ctf and "grind the same into small particles;asthe'particlesor bran have been adhered together by the molasses duringthe'toasting'process.

After the 'grind'mg'operation I mix" the "ground "productwith "the "proper proportion of pop'l'ar bark; and "at" this time "a'dd' the desired quantity :These ingredients are intimately :Theseandnther .objectsz and; novel i reatures of imy invention will bea -more iciearly andl fiully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the preparation of my cereal beverage or cofiee substitute I prefer to use a cereal grain which is preferably bran, and poplar bark. These ingredients are mixed with molasses and vinegar to produce the desired product. The composition of my cereal beverage is substantially as follows:

Poplar bark Bran Molasses Vinegar While various other cereal grains may be used in place of the bran mentioned, it is felt that none of the other grains provide the same flavor as. bran. The product is seemingly more similar to closely as possible the taste of coffee, the bran may be substituted by one of the other grains.

The use of poplar bark as an ingredient apgar formed from apples or apple cider.

pears to be most desirable. Various types of barks have been used without accomplishing many of the same results. While the chemical composition of the poplar bark is not known it appears that this particular bark has somewhat of a stimulating eflect when used in the beverage, and for this reason my beverage will provide somewhat the same stimulant as cofiee itself.

The molasses used in the coffee substitute acts as a binder for the particles and also adds flavor to the composition. During the toasting process the molasses permeates the particles of the ingredients andadds a pleasing flavor to the beverage. The molasses used is preferably the dark type of molasses, the flavor of which is somewhat stronger than the lighter colored molasses, although this fact is not essential to the composition. 7

The vinegar apparently acts as a catalyst to blend the flavor of the ingredients, although unlike, a true catalyst the vinegar changes the flavor of the product to some extent. This ingredient seems to make the flavor of the ingredients more readily extractable during the beverage making process, and it is for this reason that I believe some chemical change takes place when the vinegar is added. Subsequent to the mixing of the ingredients with the vinegar the compound is toasted so as to remove the moisture from the composition, thereby destroying the vinegar as such. The vinegar used is preferably apple vine- This vinegar has the additional feature of adding to the slightly astringent taste of the product which has been found so popular in coiTee.

While the proportions of the various ingredi ents may vary to some extent I have found that a very suitable beverage may be formed from a composition substantially as follows:

Parts Poplar bark 2 Bran 16 Molasses 1 Vinegar 1 and accordingly the mixture is cooled and ground. I

This mixture is then mixed with the poplar bark and the vinegar is then added. The poplar bark is ground very finely before the same is mixed with the brand and molasses product. This composition is thoroughly mixed and then toasted until dry. The composition is then in readiness for use. It is very desirable that in toasting the molasses in bran that a temperature be maintained which is below the'burning point of the molasses. It is even more essential, however, that the drying process at the end of the process be kept at a temperature below the burning point of the poplar bark, as the burning of this bark distracts materially from the taste of the product.

I have found that my composition not only is pleasant to drink, but also simulates coffee very closely in its color and aroma. In order to be I suitable for use a product used as a coffee substitute 'must give oil a pleasant aroma when being cooked and also when being served. I have found that my composition gives off such a pleasant aroma and has an appearance which is almost identical to that of cofiee. The beverage may be made in any way that coffee is made. In other words, the beverage may be made by percolation, by the. drip method, through the use of a glass coffee maker, or by boiling.

In accordancewith the patent statutes, I have described the principles of composition and preparation of my coffee substitute, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiments thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made Within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention. I

I claim:

l. The process of preparing a cereal beverage which comprises mixing a cereal, poplar bark and molasses in the presence of vinegar, and toasting the composition until dry. 1

2. The process of preparing a cereal beverage which comprises mixing a cereal grain and molasses, grinding the product thus formed, mixing the ground product with poplar bark, adding vinegar, mixing this mixture thoroughlyv andtoasting the product until dry.

3. The process of forming a cofiee substitute which comprises mixing substantially sixteen parts of bran with one part of molasses, toasting this composition, cooling and grinding the composition, mixing the composition with substantially two parts of poplar bark and one part of vinegar, mixing this product thoroughly and toasting the same until dry.

PETER O. SCOW. 

